Most Kiwis are bouncing back from the impacts of past challenges
Despite the challenges of the past few years, 82% of New Zealanders believed that they have been able to bounce back in a positive way and 92% perceived New Zealand as a nation with grit, a new study has shown.
The Kiwi Grit Report 2023 conducted by OneChoice, in partnership with CoreData, revealed COVID-19 as the top grit-building challenge by 55% of the respondents, followed by natural disasters (44%), economic hardship (43%), racial relations (34%), and extreme weather (32%).
Cost of living, meanwhile, was reported by 74% of the respondents as the most prominent challenge the nation has faced in the past five years, followed by COVID-19 pandemic impacts (66%), housing affordability (61%), and crime, scams, and safety (53%).
Some 70% believed a recession will likely come within the next year, with 81% concerned that it will impact household security. That said, Kiwis generally felt well informed about how a recession will impact their household, with 76% saying they understand the effect that it will have on their financial security, and 66% were confident that they were well equipped to deal with a major economic recession, the survey found.
What is Kiwi grit?
Some 55% of the respondents agreed that persistence is a hallmark of Kiwi grit, while 53% and 52%, respectively, said it was characterised by resilience and fortitude.
Kiwi grit is seen by 84% of New Zealanders as something that will help them overcome and bounce back from the challenges they may face in the future, the survey found.
Challenges ahead
New Zealanders believed that the next five years would be fraught with personal and national challenges.
Nationally, one of the greatest challenges identified was economic hardship (65%), followed by mental health/wellbeing (52%), economic recession (47%), crime and civil unrest (45%), ongoing COVID-19 issues (42%) and quality of aged and public health care systems (40%).
Personally, there’s financial challenges (56%) and health and wellbeing challenges (54%). They were also expecting ageing challenges (45%), personal and relationship challenges (32%), and environmental, climate or natural disaster challenges (31%).
What’s making Kiwis tougher
The past five years may have been tough on New Zealanders – but good news is, they have also made Kiwis tougher.
The OneChoice study found that 84% of the respondents felt the events of the past five years have put things more into perspective, and 89% believed personal challenges have changed and shaped them in some way.
Some 86% said the challenges helped build their personal grit, while there were also those who felt the personal challenges have made them more grateful (65%) self-aware and mindful (57%), emotionally/mentally stronger (55%), built resilience and determination (49%), and developed a positive growth mindset (45%). Notably, 79% said they are now connecting more with what matters to them, and 72% have been reassessing essential goals and priorities.
Findings also showed that having grit enabled 87% of the respondents to bounce back from personal challenges. Not surprisingly, 89% experiencing personal challenges believed they have been able to bounce back in a positive way from the challenges. They achieved this, typically with the help of confiding in friends/family (49%), finding/focusing more on hobbies or personal interests (49%), studying/upskilling/reskilling (30%), seeking the support of experts/professionals (27%) or meditating/practising yoga or mindfulness (26%).
Sven Hansen, founder of The Resilience Institute, said general well-being is a product of action – exercise, sleep, relaxation, nutrition, and time in nature.
“In our experience working with New Zealanders, about 70% refuse to take this action and thus experience negative consequences,” Hansen said. “The 30% that do something about it enjoy well-being. We recommend staying focused on what you can do in the present. Protect your sleep, stay active, avoid junk food, stop substance abuse, and do what you can in the present moment.”
How have you demonstrated Kiwi grit lately? Share it in the comments section below.
